… Residents relocate as power outage persists
Residents of Masaka, a densely populated satellite town of Nasarawa State close to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, are counting their losses over protracted months of power outage and alleged continuing exploitation by officials Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The continuing blackout in the area for over three months has forced most residents to shutdown their business while deaths are on daily basis being recorded in hospitals relying of AEDC power supply.
Hospitals within the area are also rejecting serious cases such as surgeries and childbirths involving power supply.
Masaka which is within one the franchise states of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) was plunged into total darkness in April 2025 and the situation has remained unattended till date.
According to AEDC source, the early rains in April pulled down over a hundred poles and the company lacks the capacity to fix the poles.
According to a resident and a laboratory operator, Mr Simon Alome, the poles fell between Gora Town and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp near Keffi.
“Unfortunately, the area is non-residential. So, nobody takes responsibility to fix the poles. The fixing of the poles is not a direct responsibility of the residents. Otherwise, they would have contributed money, as usual, to fix them.
“When the storm fell the poles, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) quickly detached their cables from the poles, an indication that the situation will remain for a long time” he said.
Alome lamented that he is using a generator for all his operations and the extra cost is passed on to his patients.
“Ordinarily, a wildal test would cost N3,500 but because of the cost of fuel we are now charging our patients N5000. The same goes to other tests” he lamented
Madam Patience Nana, a resident and a cold room operator, has not operated since April this year because the fish she was preserving for fish sellers went bad due to total power outage.
“I have not operated the cold room for months now because of total blackout orchestrated by AEDC.
“The last business I did was a complete loss because people’s goods went bad. I cannot continue to preserve my goods with generators because of the cost of fuel. My customers complain when I pass on the cost to them.
“They complain that my business is costly and they can no longer patronise me. I also live in Masaka and I can tell you for free that the situation has been hellish. Ironically, the last bill they brought to us for May was N19,000 for each house on estimated billing system.
“When we complained they told us that it was a technical glitch which would be corrected in the subsequent bills.
That was before the total blackout in April” she said.
National President, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Executive Director, Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Chief Princewill Okorie noted the endemic corruption in the sector and called for the removal of the Minister of Power.
“We have been calling for the removal of the Minister of Power and the government looks away ——-the government that believes in extorting the citizens they should protect. It’s worrisome. This is not only extortion, it’s killing the economy of the country.
“Most people cannot work again. They increased the price of fuel; they increased the price of diesel; they increased the price of gas; they increased the price of electricity. How can these people survive? The same time, you are complaining of insecurity. How can people survive? Is it not fraudulent? And they are looking for criminals elsewhere” he lamented.
At a Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adekola Adelabu celebrated his achievements in two years, saying that the nation has attained 6000 megawatts of electricity in 40 years but lamented that the weakest link in the chain are the distribution companies (DisCos).
This, he said, is because they have refused to invest in the industry.
According to the minister, despite tariff adjustments that boosted market liquidity by 70 per cent—raising sector revenue from ₦1 trillion in 2023 to ₦1.7 trillion in 2024—the distribution segment remains the weakest link.
“In the fourth quarter of 2024, DisCos in the north remitted just ₦124.4 billion (30 per cent) of their ₦408.86 billion invoice, with Abuja DisCo accounting for 85 per cent of northern payments. Southern DisCos fared slightly better, remitting ₦254.6 billion (67 per cent), though 70 per cent of this came from Lagos DisCos alone. These discrepancies are due largely to crumbling infrastructure outside economic hubs, where underinvestment has left networks dilapidated” he explained.
Adelabu noted that the metering gap, a key driver of revenue loss and consumer distrust, underscores systemic neglect adding that the government has launched a ₦700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and a World Bank-backed programme targeting 4.3 million meters by 2025. Seventy-five thousand (75,000) units were deployed in April 2024 while additional 200,000 is expected in May” he said.
When contacted, the AEDC spokesperson, Mrs Adefisanyo Akinsanya, feigned ignorance of incident at Masaka but said that she should be given some time to make inquiries and get back to the reporter . She never did.
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